Susi McConnell's Story

NORTHERN HARVEST: TWENTY MICHIGAN WOMEN IN FOOD AND FARMING

http://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/northern-harvest

SUSI MCCONNELL’S STORY

Growing up in a Lithuanian family and neighborhood in Saginaw, Susi loved baking from early childhood, but also all the plants and flowers and vegetables in her parents’ garden. Influenced by the back-to-nature movement of the 60s she became aware of “organic stuff. . . . I became really aware of food and the health benefits . . . and I was very aware of the mind/body thing.”

After working as a pastry chef at Leland Lodge, at SugarLoaf, at Hattie’s, at Thyme Out and at Martha’s, Susi developed celiac and could no longer work with flour. Still very conscious of health as relates to food, she then worked with Angela Macke at Light of Day and got into biodynamic gardening.

"I follow the calendar, and I harvest and plant according to the calendar. . . . When we built our house I planted . . . currant bushes, strawberries, black and red raspberries, apricot trees, apple trees, pear trees, plum trees. So what I had done to myself was to become a slave to my garden and my orchards.”

“I’m happy that I have led the life I have, with a total awareness of my environment. We are all inner-connected, and I wish everyone could feel that way.”

To read more of Susi’s story and the stories of 19 other amazing women in food and farming, you can order Northern Harvest from Amazon or from your favorite independent bookstore.

Comments

Dos manos in Matamoros

Dos manos Before the trip to Brownsville, Texas, to help prepare and serve food to asylum seekers held in the tent city across the river in Matamoros, Mexico, Marti told us to bring fanny packs or other bags that would leave our hands free. Whether chopping vegetables or serving from the trays of hot food to the 1,000+ men, women, and children of every age, we would need both our hands , dos manos , at all times. How did we come to be there and why were we doing this? Hunger and homelessness exist inside our nation’s borders, both in cities and rural areas. Tightrope, the new book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, describes families shattered by what the authors call “death by despair.” Donating to good causes and volunteering at soup kitchens are not uncommon, and churches and other organizations strive to meet the need on a daily basis. Still, the need that drew a dozen women in their 60s, 70s and 80s to this community just across the Texas...

Barb's Story

NORTHERN HARVEST: TWENTY MICHIGAN WOMEN IN FOOD AND FARMING https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/northern-harvest BARB THOLIN Born in Illinois, Barb didn’t move to Traverse City until 2007. Farming was in her DNA. Her mom grew up on Barb’s grandparents’ farm. Barb studied agronomy, worked on an organic vegetable farm, and cared for draft horses, always a passion. After almost two decades of managing a food co-op and trying to educate people about food, health, diet, sustainability, she decided to devote herself fulltime to educating the public through promoting local farmers, vintners, brewers, bakers, restaurateurs and more. Happily for this region, she chose to do this in Traverse City, starting up the Edible Grand Traverse magazine, already surpassing 60 issues. To read more of Barb’s story and to learn about the 19 other amazing women in the food business in Northern Harvest , just contact your favorite independen...

CHAPTER TWO OF THE ADVENTURES OF BRIOCHE

THE ADVENTURES OF BRIOCHE: CHAPTER TWO In this sad and difficult year of deaths and distancing, rescue shelters across the country have emptied and breeders had more demand than they could supply for canine or feline companions to help deal with the unprecedented isolation and losses. Brioche was born in July and yes, I decided last spring to seek out a puppy to accompany me in this year of the quarantine and then, most likely, for the rest of my life. A mere 3 pounds when she joined me in September not quite yet 8 weeks old, Brioche now weighs in at a whopping 8 lbs. and has reached the advanced age of 7 months. Although I was raised in a family with many dogs and always had a dog (and sometimes a litter of puppies) while I was raising my own children, once my nest was empty and work was fulltime and often required lots of travel, I gave up on living with a dog and for many years starting in the late 80s had cats instead. But now after a hiatus of almost 40 ye...

Vernalruminations

Search This Blog